Are You A Journalist? If You Say You Are, You Are...but...
Self-identification only goes so far. Getting others to agree with your self-declared status is a different thing.
Maybe you have a blog on some topic. You may consider yourself a journalist, but getting into the press room at a trade show or conference may not be so easy. Every such event has rules for admission as media. Unless your blog is a prominent one in that particular field, you're unlikely to get a press pass for the event. Space is limited, and the people paying to be there want to talk to journalists who might write about them in a publication with a wide circulation. They don't really want to talk to people with blogs that get 100 visits a day.
You may write frequently on some website, but that also may not qualify you for status as a journalist, either, depending on the website, what you write there, and on the requirements of whatever organization or person you encounter. Often, you won't qualify for the benefits accruing to journalists in that area. If your journalism is done on discussion forums, rather than on recognized news websites, it's unlikely that you'll be recognized as a journalist.
You may want to get a press pass from your local authorities that allows you past police lines, etc. Unless you write for a recognized publication, either locally or on a broader basis, you're going to have difficulty getting those credentials. Every jurisdiction has its own criteria for issuing press credentials, and you have to meet those criteria to get that press pass. Law enforcement and government agencies have press relations staffs, and they're not interested in repeating themselves to self-styled journalists who don't write for recognized media outlets, either local, regional, or on a larger scale. No press pass; no access.
Membership in some organization of journalists can help establish your identity as a journalist, but most such organizations have their own criteria for membership. If you don't meet those criteria, you won't be considered a journalist by that organization, and won't be given membership. Journalism organizations come in a variety of forms, and some are widely recognized. Others, that admit anyone who claims to be a journalist, are recognized for what they are, as well.
Bottom line is that anyone can call himself or herself a journalist. Anyone can do that. You can have business cards or some generic press pass printed from some website. But, getting others to recognize that identification is the real issue, and it's the critical issue for things like access, protection of sources, and more. For most bloggers and website writers, along with people who don't deal with collecting hard news, those issues are rarely pertinent, anyhow. You may see yourself as a journalist but, if nobody else recognizes that status, it's hard to maintain the illusion.
So, if you think you are a journalist, then you are a journalist. But, don't expect everyone else to recognize that status, automatically. They won't, necessarily. And journalists who do journalism as a paid profession are unlikely to recognize you as being in their profession. They make their living as journalists, and don't have time to validate your own opinion of your status.
N.B. - I used to work as a journalist. My career spans 3 decades. I'm not doing that any more. Today, I'm not a journalist, but I was a journalist. Now, I'm just a writer.
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